[ Reviewed by: Jiang ] - [ Date: Sunday, 24th October, 1999 ]

 

The author of Mel Soaring was certainly quick with this sequal, but perhaps a little too quick and that shows in the final product.

 

I had the benefit of betatesting for Shaun, but unfortunately, only my most superficial advice was looked into. Nonetheless, that was enough to solve some major texture misalignments and the first thing you'll notice with Mel Soaring 2: Star Rancor is the colorful, unique and very neat design. Like me, you'll probably feel out of place at the beginning with the funky lighting, but also like me, it'll probably grow on you... or maybe it's just the fact that Shaun picks up the eye-candy towards the end; either way is good.

 

The problem with Mel Soaring 2: Star Rancor was that the story and the theme the author chose were not very compatible with the final product, as a result this felt awkward as in Mel Soaring for Quake2. The story is great and it attempts to link Quake2 to Half-Life, and I actually paid attention to the frequent text displays during the level that shows conversations between you and your iron-maiden girfriend back on Stroggos. Say whuh? Yeah, it's all very interesting, but that just makes you wish that the levels themselves were better developed.

 

My main gripe was with the outdoor asteroid setting; I talked to Shaun about this, it's just not convincing enough! It feels more like a space platform, ala Yuri Davidov's Space Odyssey series (which we're all hoping he continues for the sake of Quake2), only a lot more uninspired. Although Mel Soaring 2: Star Rancor's consistently great r_speeds might have been somewhat sacrificed, I still feel that would've been worth it if it meant more elaboration on the currently banal outdoor areas. It's a shame cause the interior of the Xen temple is done so well.

 

Xen temple? That doesn't exactly roll off the tongue as well as Strogg temple does it? As I've said, Mel Soaring 2: Star Rancor scores high for originality. You are not in your typical Xen setting here, but it seems nobody these days would want many levels dedicated to your typical Xen world. The visuals used by Shaun, however, aren't exactly unpresidented as many areas look vaguely familiar to Neil Manke's USS Darkstar. Although the two standards are obviously very different, it's still not a bad thing.

 

Also like in USS Darkstar, the only bad guys you get to fight here are Xenoids; although dead human grunts often make appearances to justify the item placement. I felt that there was somewhat of a alien slave overload when it comes to Mel Soaring 2: Star Rancor and I think I've been zapped one too many times to consider this fact not annoying. Aside from your overzealous slaves, the alien grunt often pesters you with their many appearances. All in all, this is a fiendishly hard but well-balanced addon, but unforunately, the fights aren't the best or the most varied.

 

Unlike the former Mel Soaring, this sequal was fairly linear as well. All in all you have a map that plays somewhat awkwardly and also feels a bit uninspired. But don't let that stop you from downloading this, the visuals were great and the last fight was just brutal!